GRO 
independent fortune. He entered into the Surrey mi- 
litia, and was appointed adjutant and paymaster ; and | 
such was his love of dissipation, that he soon squan- 
dered away the fortune which his father had accumu- 
lated. The distress to which he) was now reduced, , 
compelled him to have recourse to his talents ; and ha- 
ving a fine taste for drawing, he began ‘to collect ma- 
terials for his Views of Antiquities in England and 
Wales, a work which he began to publish in numbers 
iu 1773, and which was completed in 1776. Other 
~ two volumes, including Guernsey and Jersey, were com- 
pleted in 1787. The success of this work induced him 
to embark more deeply as. an author. ¢ 
of 1789, he made a tour through Scotland ; and in 
1790, he began to publish, in numbers, his Antiquities 
of Scotland, which were completed in two volumes 
4to. In the year 1791, Mr Grose set outsfor Ireland, 
with the view of collecting materials for an account of 
the antiquities of that country ; but soon after his ar- 
rival at Dublin, he was seized with an apoplectic fit, of 
which he died, on the 6th of May 1791; about the 60th 
year of his age. Mr Grose wasremarkable for his good 
humour, conviviality, and friendship, \ He was eXx-~ 
tremely corpulent, and altogether singular in his ex- 
ternal appearance. - A likeness of him, at full length, 
is given in his Olio, published after his death. ; 
The following isa list of his works: 1. The Antiqui- 
ties of England and Wales, 8'vols. 4to. and $vo, 2. The 
Antiquities of Scotland, 2 vols. 4to.\and 8vo. 3. The 
Antiquities of Ireland, 2 vols. 4to,and'8vo. 4, A Trea-" 
tise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, 4to, 1785. 
5. A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 8 vols. 
1785. 6. Military Antiquities ; being a History of the 
English Army from the Conquest to the present time, 
2 vols. 4to, 1786, 1788.7. The History of Dover 
Castle, by the Rev. William Daniell, 4to, 1786. 8. A 
Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of local Proverbs 
and popular Superstitions, 8vo, 1788. 9. Rules for 
drawing Caricatures, 8vo, 1788. 10, Supplement to the 
Treatise on Ancient Armour and’ Weapons, 4to, 1789. 
11. A Guide to Health, Beauty, Honour, and Riches ; 
being a collection of humorous Advertisements, point- 
ing out the means to! obtain those blessings; with a’ 
suitable introductory Preface; 8vo.. 12. The Olio ; 
being a Collection of Essays in 8vo, 1798. 
GROTIUS, Hugo, one of the most profound!and 
enlightened scholars, and one of the most remarkable 
men of his age, was born at Delft in the United Ne- 
therlands, on the 10th of April 1583. The name in 
Dutch is De Groot or the Great ; and as it had for many 
ages been the patronymick of one branch of his ances- 
tors, the circumstances which led to its adoption are 
unknown. But few families have: better merited such 
a distinction, if greatness be estimated not by external 
rank and honour, but by those intellectual and moral 
endowments, which far surpass in value all the gifts of 
fortune. The family of Grotius had been illustrious at 
Delft for four centuries, and he himself in the estima- 
tion of his own age and of posterity, pre-eminently 
merited the surname of Great among the great. He 
did not descend, however, in the uninterrupted male 
line from that family ; for it is related, that about the 
year 1430, Dederie De Groot, burgomaster of Delft, 
and a SE enetialiel member of the family, had 
an only child, a daughter named Eremgard, whom he 
left a wealthy heiress. This young lady was sought in 
marriage by Cornelius Cornetz, who sprung from that 
branch of the noble family ‘of Cornetz, which, under 
the Dukes of Burgundy, had emigrated from, France 
«$24 
In the summer » 
GRO | 
into Holland. The lady favoured his addresses, but 6G 
under this stipulation, that should there be any children = 
of the marriage, they should take the name of her and her 
ancestors, De Grout. The first who, in conformity to 
this agreement, bore hername, was Hugh, eee of 
Dederic, and grandfather of the,subject of this article. ° 
One of the sons of this Hugh was Cornelius De Groot, — 
bom in Delft in 1544. After acquiring much lesening 
at his native place, he cuted his studies, pairs A | 
and mathematical, wit! eat ardour at Louvain and 
Paris. He delighted in the philosophy of Plato. He” ~_ 
then applied himself to the civil law at Orleans, did 
on his return to’ Delft, betook himself to the bar, and — 
afterwards filled several’ important offices. In 1575 he 
was appointed professor of philosophy in the univer- 
sity of Leyden, which dates its origin from about that 
time, and which has since been so celebrated in the 
republic of letters. He afterwards taught the civil law 
in that ire and evinced his preference for the 
quiet pursuits of learning, by refusing a seat in the 
great council of the States, though that appointment 
was ‘repea' pressed on his acceptance. He died 
without issue in 1601. Hugh De Groot had another 
son, John, who also studied law. He was appointed _ 
burgomaster of Delft, and afterwards curator of the - 
university of Leyden. He was an elegant scholar and ° 
a poet. But’ his chief claim to the sp tes hs 
posterity is, that he was the father of our Hugo ; 
tius, to whom it is now proper to direct our attention, ' 
‘This illustrious man was born, as we already stated, 
at Delft in 1583. His mother’s name was Alide Over- 
schie, and the family to which she belonged was of | 
some note. Endued by nature with admirable talents, 
he enjoyed from his infancy the advantage of an ex 
cellent education. When he was only seven years of 
age, he was placed under'the tuition of masters, with 
whom he made such extraordinary progress, that be- 
fore he had completed his ninth year he compo 
verses which obtained the approbation of ‘the learned. 
At twelve he was so great a proficient in the know-' 
ledge of the classics, and of belles lettres, that he was 
qualified to pursue his studies at the university. He 
was accordingly sent in 1595 from Delft to Leyden,’ 
where he spent three years in the study of mathema- 
tics, philosophy, theology, and law, and excelled in the’ 
knowledge of each of these sciences. He was only 
fifteen years old when he wrote a commen on a 
very difficult Latin poet, Marcianus Capella. The ce« 
lebrated statesman, John Barnevelt, attorney-general 
of the republic of Holland, having been, in 1598, ap- 
pointed ambassador to France, the young Grotius acs 
companied him thither. Henry the Fourth, who then 
reigned in France, gave him most gratifying marks of 
his esteem.. The monarch p ted him ha gold 
chain, and a portrait of himself; and itis said that he _ 
was so highly pleased with such attention, that he 
caused his own portrait to be engraved, adorned with 
these tokens of royal favour. hile he remained in. 
France, he obtained the degree of Doctor of Law at 
the early age of sixteen. Felis os 
On his return to Holland, Grotius, in ‘compliance 
with his father’s desite, entered on the sees hed - 
law; and at the age of seventeen, he began to’ plead _ 
with distinguished ability and success. He retained’ 
his fondness, however, for classieal and literary pur- 
suits, and continued to prosecute his general studies 
with ardour in those interyals of leisure 
! uve which, his la- 
borious profession ‘allowed, and which supplied the 
place of recreation, chiefly: by’ affording a change of — 
4 ; 
